Environmental
November 11, 2009
To Superfund or Not To Superfund, That Is The Question
The Architect's Newspaper devoted a bunch of column inches yesterday to the issue of what to do about cleaning up the Gowanus Canal, and it's not too hard to figure out where the publication stands. The article starts by pointing out that Mayor Bloomberg has been talking about cleaning up the canal since he first came to office but it was only when the threat of the waterway getting Superfund status reared its head earlier this year that he started acting with any sense of urgency. The paper also calls into question the mayor's claim that a clean-up by the city would have more financial resources and take less time than a Superfund effort, and leads up to the accusation that the mayor's plan is nothing more than an effort to help real estate developers in the short-term at the expense of the neighborhood in the long-term. Let's see where readers stand on this one.
Twice as Smelly [The Architect's Newspaper]
October 14, 2009
EPA, Bloomberg Compete to Clean Gowanus
In late September, the Gowanus Canal, polluted from sewage runoff and years of industrial waste, made headlines when Riverkeeper, a watchdog organization, threatened to sue major polluters unless they take remedial action. The Environmental Protection Agency is also considering the waterway as a possible Super Fund, which would take extensive containment measures and look for clean-up funds through litigation against present and past polluters. The Bloomberg administration opposed both these plans, offering that the city could clean the canal faster, without hampering private development—and Friday, in a pump house along the canal, Bloomberg announced the details of his plan: a two-stage process that he expects would clean the canal within ten years. The first stage, according to The Architect's Newspaper, consists of three capital programs to increase fresh water flow, dredge the river, and increase capacity to transport and process sewage runoff. The second, and more vague, stage involves approaching companies to help remedy some of the long-term environmental damage, with matching funds from the federal Water Resources Development Act. The city would grant oversight rights to the EPA, which could step in if the city's program failed to meet its standards. There are no data yet concerning which plan, city clean-up or the Super Fund process, would be safer for residents or more environmentally sound. Some people have criticized Bloomberg, saying that his sudden interest in the canal isn't just to protect private development but because Riverkeeper implicated the city's Department of Transportation as one of the polluters. The decision has caused some polarization and frustration already; at Friday's announcement, for example, eight supporters of Super Fund designation were barred entry to the event, while the developer Toll Brothers was allowed inside, reports the Daily News. A Bloomberg representative said that it was simply a private event for invited guests and the media. And there are other residents, on the other hand, who don't care who cleans the canal, as long as someone does.
Riverkeeper, Feds, State Jostle to Clean Gowanus [Brownstoner]
Advocates of Super Fund Barred from City Conference [Daily News]
Flushing the Gowanus [Architect's Newspaper]
Photo by Timothy Vogel
September 25, 2009
EPA Considers Newton Creek for Superfund
The Environmental Protection Agency is recommending Newton Creek, the 3.5-mile estuary between Brooklyn and Queens, as a Superfund site, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. The waterway has a long history of pollution, beginning in the 19th century when Charles Pratt opened Astral Oil, the country's first oil refinery, in 1867. Now fast forward to 1978 when the public became aware of oil spillage into the creek from a series of spills and leaks from oil refineries along the banks. The amount of oil in the creek has been estimated to be up to 30 million gallons—since the creek has no current, the oil combined with sewage overflow and industrial waste water has created a 15-foot sludge of "black mayonnaise" on the creek bed. If the creek makes the National Priorities List, then the federal government will intervene first with immediate measures for public safety followed by long-term investigations and clean-up efforts. As we mentioned on Wednesday, the Gowanus Canal, a similarly polluted waterway, is also up for Superfund attention, which has met with resistance from developers and Mayor Bloomberg because it will halt private investment. The mayor doesn't seem to have issued an official statement on the creek since the EPA's Wednesday announcement, but the Gotham Gazette mentions that in May a Bloomberg spokesman said: “The city hasn’t yet taken a position on the potential Superfund designation of Newtown Creek. We’re doing internal analysis now and plan to meet with the EPA next month before expressing any view. The city plans to invest nearly $1.9 billion in Newtown Creek related projects over the next decade.”
EPA Recommends Newton Creek for Superfund List [EPA]
Newton Creek Nominated as Superfund Site [Brooklyn Eagle]
Newton Creek Clean-up Efforts [PBS]
Riverkeeper, Feds, State Jostle to Clean Gowanus [Brownstoner]
Newton Creek, Here Comes the EPA [Gotham Gazette]
Photo by Jose Hernandez
September 23, 2009
Riverkeeper, Feds, State Jostle to Clean Gowanus
Riverkeeper, a clean water advocacy group, gave notice on September 16 to three businesses along the polluted Gowanus Canal of an intent to sue within 60 days if the businesses do not voluntarily commence clean-up procedures. The corporations, alleged to violate the federal Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, are: 6th Street Iron and Metal, accused of "dumping metal and debris into the canal"; Ferrara Brothers Building Materials Corporation, "a cement plant discharging liquid cement and stone into the canal"; and 107 Sixth Street LLC and 36-2nd-J Corporation, "for operating an open dump and filling the canal from a parking lot on their property." As the organization mentions on its site, "Riverkeeper also issued a warning letter to the NYC Department of Transportation after documenting a turbid plume of water coming from a stone barge at the DOT Asphalt Plant on Gowanus Bay." As The Brooklyn Paper reports, Riverkeeper has pursued companies for environmental violations in the past, resulting in voluntary action, lawsuits, and hefty fines. The city has also had its eye on the canal, with plans beginning in 2002 for private investment and aid from the Army Corps of Engineers, but these plans are on hold while the Environmental Protection Agency decides whether to designate the canal as a Superfund site. Proponents of the Superfundification of the Gowanus say that the federal government can obtain large-scale funding (by designating the canal toxic and suing polluters from the past 150 years) that the city can't. Opponents, such as urban planner Julia Vitullo-Martin, say that the Superfund process will take decades, dry up private investment, and make the process large and inefficient. In an editorial yesterday, Ms. Vitullo-Martin argued that some polluters, such as National Grid on behalf of its predecessors, have already agreed to help the city clean the canal, and the city's plan will be more beneficial for the well-being of canal neighborhoods in the long run.
Gowanus Canal Pollution Enforcement [Riverkeeper]
Riverkeeper to Sue Dirty Rotten Scoundrels [Brooklyn Paper]
Don't 'Superfund' the Gowanus [NY Post]
Photo by Riverkeeper
September 1, 2009
Brownfield Investigation Begins at 388 Bridge Street
Remember back in the spring when we broke the news that the 450,000-square-foot residential development at 384-388 Bridge Street in Downtown Brooklyn was being held up not by market conditions but instead by a lawsuit surrounding potential contamination from a dry cleaners that had been on the site for more than four decades? Although we reported at the time that the site had been admitted into the state's brownfield program, the Department of Environmental Conservation just yesterday put out the formal announcement. Over the next two to three weeks there will be a "supplemental investigation" to determine whether full remediation is necessary; the most recent tests in November showed that the soil itself did not contain abnormal levels of contaminants but that the soil vapor did contain chlorinated vapor contamination. Following the supplemental review, the DEC will put together, and present for public review, a Remedial Work Plan.
Contamination Found at 384 Bridge Street, Lawsuit Filed [Brownstoner] GMAP
A Wrench in 388 Bridge Street's Plans? [Brownstoner]
July 2, 2009
The City Pushes Its Plan for Gowanus Canal Clean-Up
The city yesterday was pushing its plan for cleaning up the Gowanus Canal, a route it says would provide the same results as if the E.P.A. took it on as a Superfund project but in much less time. “This isn’t a ‘trust us’ scenario,” said Cas Holloway, chief of staff to Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler. “The goal is to have a Superfund-quality cleanup faster than the Superfund.” The city says it can get the job done in less than a decade, whereas it says the E.P.A. could take as least twice as long (and potentially longer depending on the amount of legal wrangling). Time is particularly important to the city because of the plans that are on the books for two large mixed-use developments along the shores of the canal. The E.P.A., which is accepting public comments on the canal's Superfund candidacy, questions whether the the city would be able to secure the federal funds it would need for its plan.
City Proposes New Plan for Gowanus Canal Cleanup
Gowanus Superfund Debate: Both Sides Now [Brownstoner]
Conflict over Gowanus Canal Superfund Status [Brownstoner]
Photo by wallyg
June 24, 2009
Try This Green(point) Roof on for Size
How cool is this: Husband-and-wife green roof architects Chris and Lisa Goode starting planning this rooftop garden atop a warehouse in Greenpoint last December, enlisting the help of an aspiring urban farmer and a planting specialist from the New York Botanical Garden along the way. And so far the results are very encouraging, according to an article this week from New York Magazine. Corn, radishes, lettuce and peppers have all been planted, and the yield thus far is being snapped up by such locavore-friendly restaurants like Marlow & Sons and Anella. Great stuff.
This Is a Roof [New York Magazine]
Photo by Lucas Foglia
June 22, 2009
Brooklyn Buzzing With Amateur Beekeepers
This weekend the Times ran a piece on urban beekeeping, which is illegal in more or less the same way jaywalking is. The practice is increasingly popular in Brooklyn, according to the story, which profiled a guy named Barry who has hives on the roof of his brownstone in Clinton Hill. Barry was persuaded to set up the hives by his friend Amy Azzarito who attended a honey harvest on the Lower East Side last summer. Ms. Azzarito joins Barry several times a month to visit the 40,000 or so bees on his roof. So far, there've been a few stings but their enthusiasm has not waned. "It’s so different from my subway ride," Ms. Azzarito said. "It’s so different from sitting in a cubicle every day."
Photo by lunakat.
June 15, 2009
More Gowanus Goop
There's a lot of discussion these days about the best way to clean up the Gowanus Canal, but before that happens we should at least find a way to stop its ongoing pollution. These two photos were sent in by a reader who took them from the 9th Street bridge. The gate on the east side of the street was open, so he walked along the canal and discovered that the spillage was coming from a woodworking business. WTF?
May 26, 2009
Gowanus Superfund Debate: Both Sides Now
The latest Gotham Gazette includes editorials from people on both the yea and nay sides of the Gowanus Canal Superfund debate. In the pro-Superfund corner is Riverkeeper attorney Joshua S. Verleun, who argues that "the ultimate goal must be a comprehensive and thorough cleanup of the canal, rather than a piecemeal approach by state and city agencies with different priorities." Verleun also writes that Superfund status will guarantee that funds are eventually made available for the waterway's cleanup, whereas the city's pledge to rehab the canal leaves many open questions about where the hundreds of millions of dollars necessary for a full cleanup of the Gowanus will come from. Toll Brothers Vice President David Von Spreckelsen, meanwhile, pens an anti-Superfund piece arguing that the city's cleanup plan is poised to begin this fall, and it would immediately begin to address the area's most pressing sewage problems. A Superfund designation, he says, would be "counterproductive" in light of such plans. Von Spreckelsen also writes that the Superfund process would not be able to raise the estimated $400 million required for the cleanup by tapping private parties responsible for contamination since so many of those parties are small businesses. The EPA will make a presentation to the community about the proposed Superfund designation tonight at 6:30 at the P.S. 32 auditorium (317 Hoyt Street).
On the Gowanus, Say 'No' to Superfund [Gotham Gazette]
Brooklyn's Lavender Lake Needs Superfund [Gotham Gazette]
Conflict over Gowanus Canal Superfund Status [Brownstoner]
Photo by lornagrl.
May 14, 2009
Brooklyn Ground Zero for Lead Soil Problems
Gardens of houses built before 1978 (when lead-based paint was banned) are likely to contain soil with excessive levels of lead, according to an article in today's New York Times, which means that most Brooklynites with access to a back yard have some work to do. Frank Meuschke, an artist living in a rented house in Brooklyn, had his soil tested at Brooklyn College for $12 and found that it contained nine times the normal amount of lead. The health implications go beyond whether it's safe to eat a tomato from your garden-- Gabriel Filippelli, a professor of earth science at Indiana University-Purdue University has shown a direct correlation between lead levels in people’s blood and how much lead is in the soil where they live. Approaches to dealing with the problem include replacing the soil altogether to putting down sod to mixing in compost and lime. What approaches have readers used?
May 1, 2009
Contamination Found at 384 Bridge Street, Lawsuit Filed
Back in January we wrote a post about the delays at 384 Bridge Street, Greg Wolpert's 450,000-square-foot project that had broken ground and then suddenly halted last summer. At the time, we referenced a sticky C of O problem at one of the properties in the footprint that threatened to shave off 90,000 square feet of buildable space from the development. Problematic but not necessarily a deal killer. Now, however, an even more serious threat has come to light, one with repercussions potentially beyond the site itself. According to a lawsuit filed by the developer, 384 Bridge Street, LLC, in State Supreme Court on April 15 against the owners RK&G Associations, LLC, the site, which formerly was leased to Bridge Cleaners, is contaminated with a dry cleaning solvent known as PCE. The contamination is alleged in the suit to have spread to the adjacent Catholic high school and another building at 141 Lawrence Street. According to the suit, the PCE was discovered last July (not long before this photo was taken) as various tanks were removed from the site as part of the construction process. This led to DOB permits being revoked in response to official notices from the Department of Environmental Conservation. Two days before the suit was filed, the site was admitted into the State's Brownfield program. The developer is seeking the $1,200,000 it has spent since work was stopped last summer plus "substantial" additional funds that will be required throughout the investigation and remediation process. Ugly.
A Wrench in 388 Bridge Street's Plans? [Brownstoner]
April 29, 2009
Closing Bell: Evidence of Damaged Trees by the Waterfalls
Michael D.D. White of Noticing New York has been tracking the blooming (or lack thereof) of the Honey Locust trees on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. The trees were in close contact with the New York City Waterfalls art installation "whose spewing salt poisoned the soil and removed the leaves from trees and vegetation in the vicinity."
April 20, 2009
Closing Bell: Green Grows in Brooklyn
To support local recycling efforts, the Park Slope 5th Avenue BID has partnered with the Park Slope Chamber of Commerce to launch a new recycling campaign. Green Grows in Brooklyn starts today through April 22nd (Earth Day). Participating businesses will collect donations in order to support local recycling efforts in the community. Donations from participating merchants and customers will go directly into creating more recycling drop-off spots and expanding e-waste events in Park Slope. According to OTBKB, businesses involved include Get Fresh Table & Market, 3 R living, Bob & Judi's Coolectibles, Corduroy Kid, and Aunt Suzie's Restaurant.
April 15, 2009
Conflict over Gowanus Canal Superfund Status
Add the Gowanus Canal clean-up to the long list of the things the city and the state can't seem to agree upon. The announcement by the EPA last week that it was considering making the Gowanus Canal a Superfund site at the behest of the state's Department of Environmental Conservation has the Bloomberg administration up in arms. The city, which has made reclaiming and rezoning the land along the canal a priority in recent years, says that the litigious Superfund process could take decades to play out given the long list of parties that is potentially liable. “A comprehensive approach to the remediation of the canal is required, one that will not only cut off all upland sources to the canal but also will include an overall remedy to the canal itself,” said a spokesperson for the state. "Of the 1,500 federal Superfund sites to date, no river cleanup has been successfully completed," countered Daniel Walsh, the director of the Mayor's Office of Environmental Remediation, at a public forum at PS 32 in Carroll Gardens last night. "This is not the EPA's fault, but it does speak to the enormous complexity of identifying responsible parties and suggests that a cleanup could very likely take more than two decades." Council Member David Yassky supports the involvement of the Feds, telling WNYC, "If [the canal]'s cleaned up, we can then have housing and restaurants and the whole waterfront life right alongside it. But first we gotta clean it up." Toll Brothers has already threatened to walk away from its 577-unit project should the EPA step in; Hudson Companies, which is slated to develop the other large development project, is similarly frustrated by the 11th-hour curveball. One of Hudson's principals, Alan Ball, provided us with this comment:
If the feds are not bringing any money, what do they add to solving the problem?Who are these deep pocket private responsible parties (PRPs) they think are out there? A GE, a Honeywell, an Exxon Mobil? If not, they are only looking at National Grid (Keyspan) and the City of New York – and ultimately the tax payers and energy consumers of NYC. And why is this happening NOW after the City has finally – after decades of delay - committed the funds to repairing the flushing tunnel and prepared a plan for addressing CSO events, the Army Corps is prepared to start dredging, and National Grid has committed to cleaning up the uplands areas through the NYS Brownfields Program.
The 60-day comment period has now begun. The Observer notes that sites that make it to the comment period "more often than not" end up getting designated.
Gowanus Plan Panned [NY Post]
Developers: Gowanus to Build or Not? [NY Observer]
Photo by emptysquare
April 14, 2009
Green on Flatbush
Three decades after buying the seven-story building at 33 Flatbush Avenue, Al Attara has created a hub of green entrepreneurship in Downtown Brooklyn, reports The Post. In addition serving as a pick-up point for the Paisley Farm CSA, 33 Flatbush also houses the urban planning firm Interboro, sustainable "hive" known as Treehouse, and the group office outfit Green Spaces (pictured). GMAP
April 13, 2009
Green Lamp Posts Coming to the Navy Yard
As part of its ongoing Green initiative, the Brooklyn Navy Yard is set to begin installing 90 wind- and solar-powered lamp posts. What makes the lamp posts even greener is the fact that they are designed and built by Navy Yard tenant Duggal Visual Solutions, which plans to convert a one-story, 30,000-square-foot building in the Yard into a two-story, 60,000-square-foot LEED Platinum certified facility for manufacturing eco-friendly products. Other fun facts: The street lights will save the BNYDC $600,000 dollars or so in the first year and $11,000 a year going forward on its electricity bill.
April 9, 2009
EPA Proposes Adding Gowanus Canal to Superfund List
The cause of cleaning up the Gowanus Canal got a big boost yesterday when the Environmental Protection Agency proposed adding the 1.8-mile waterway to its Superfund National Priorities List; inclusion on the list would mean a comprehensive investigation of the contamination and the development of a plan to remedy it. “The sooner we get the listing underway, the sooner EPA can begin its work, so that one day the Gowanus Canal can be used again to benefit the people of Brooklyn,” said Acting Regional Administrator George Pavlou. To date, sampling of the canal has turned up evidence of a variety of pollutants, including pesticides, metals and volatile organic contaminants (VOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and tar-related contaminations. For the next 60 days, the public is invited to contribute comments here. In addition, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke will be hosting a public forum with the EPA on April 14 at 7 p.m. at PS 32 on Hoyt between Union and President Streets.
Photo by Sail Brooklyn
January 8, 2009
Closing Bell: Green Roof Course at CityTech
Do you want to learn more about green roofs? Through City Tech's Division of Continuing Education, Green Roof Reno will be offering a course on Green Roof Design and Installation starting this January 29th at the college's downtown Brooklyn location. Click here to register for the course.
January 5, 2009
Closing Bell: Finally Get Rid of Your Christmas Tree
If you just can't wait until Mulchfest to get rid of your Christmas tree, have no fear: The Department of Sanitation will collect your tree for composting starting today through Friday, January 16. Just leave your tree on the curb (remove all decorations, of course) and feel good about helping fertilize parks, ball fields, and community gardens throughout the city.
December 8, 2008
Property Values Versus Clean Air in Greenpoint
If you thought Newtown Creek was the greatest environmental danger to Greenpoint residents, think again. That site may be on its way to cleanup after a 30 million gallon oil spill almost 20 more than 50 years ago, but now toxic gases may be snaking into Greenpoint homes from the ground below, thanks to its industrial past: "dry-cleaning plants, foundries and other manufacturers that once operated" here, reports the NY Times. "Contaminants that spread from industrial activity, or that were mistakenly believed to have been contained or eliminated in environmental cleanups, have been discovered wafting into basements." Weirdly, the greatest obstacle to cleaning up the toxic vapors comes from homeowners, refusing to cooperate with the conservation department and the State Department of Health. "In Greenpoint, as elsewhere, many homeowners — worried about a blow to their property values or even being forced from their homes — have ignored letters asking for access to their buildings, or have refused to answer the door for investigators." Of the 58 homes selected for inspection last February and March, only 12 were opened up for inspectors. Here's what they found: "Air in two of the homes was contaminated with chemicals used to dry-clean fabrics and degrease metal parts." The cleanup costs $5,000 to $10,000, and is covered by the State. Addendum: Check out the video produced by Vice on the same topic here.
A Problem Rises to the Surface in Greenpoint [NY Times]
Photo by brianwferry.
November 13, 2008
Price Cuts at Nzinga Townhouses
Though they haven't made it very far on construction, the green, modular townhouses in Bed Stuy known as Nzinga and designed by Brooklyn local Garrison Architects has been seeing some price reductions. They started on the market earlier this year for $1.3 million (when we first looked at them), received a chop to $1.2 million three months ago, and are now listed at $1.099 million. The houses, if you don't mind buying on spec, seem pretty cool, and would be a model for future modular projects if they succeed: 2,900-square-foot houses with highly efficient heating, insulation and lighting systems, among other perks. Listed with Corcoran, and the floor plan's on the jump. Both Curbed and Greenbuildings NYC profiled the houses this week, reporting that construction financing had been secured and that the project should break ground in 2009. One catch: Two of the three houses have to be in contract first (one already is).
Upscale Green Townhouses Coming to Bed Stuy [Brownstoner] GMAP
October 16, 2008
Exteriors: Green Roof in Bloom
Last year, a Park Slope couple sent us the skinny on the green roof they'd installed. They'd found the design firm, Prospect Architecture, through our very own forum, who created a green roof, photovoltaic array (solar power) and roof deck, making it feel like "a small meadow." Here's the update from the architects: "We (and the clients) were thrilled by how well the plants have grown and filled in the space. The garden has required little to no maintenance. The most exciting part has been that the solar panels have provided for about 60% of the clients' energy needs!"
Here are energy use numbers before and after solar installation:
- 2007 6/11-7/12 2081 kwh (before solar installation)
- 2008 6/10-7/10 958 kwh (after solar installation)
October 10, 2008
Green on Brownstoner: Salvage on State Street
Earlier this year, Mr. B gave this place a bit of a whooping for what he thought was an out-of-scale addition (though plenty of readers disagreed with us). If only we'd known how the addition helped reinvent this State Street townhouse into a green haven courtesy of Tesoro Architects and Ryan Enschede Studio. More from Ryan below. Got a green project you want to publish? Send us a note.
The owners needed to replace the worn-out interior of their home damaged by previous renovations, and to expand for a growing family. We worked hard to create a new “green” house within a historic shell. We started by preserving the original façade: stoop, window, and door openings have been left as they were. The cornice, which was crumbling and unable to be repaired, has been rebuilt nearly as it was. Above the cornice line the new floor extends the structure upwards behind a new mansard roof-with-dormers.
Continue reading "Green on Brownstoner: Salvage on State Street"
September 24, 2008
Green on Brownstoner: Reusing Rainwater in Boerum Hill
Installment #3 of Green on Brownstoner finds us at a four-story, 20-foot wide, 2,920 square foot, 1860s-era brownstone in Boerum Hill that will be part of the 2008 ASES National Solar Home Tour on October 4th. If you've got a green project for us, send a note.
Nomad Architecture was tasked with a massive renovation, as the interior had been damaged by uneven settlement and water damage. They retained the party walls and facade, and reinvented the inside. Their goal was to minimize water and energy consumption as well as the environmental impact of materials used. Rainwater will be caught and reused, low-flow toilets and Energy Star appliances installed, envelope sealed to make the building 66% more energy efficient.
Continue reading "Green on Brownstoner: Reusing Rainwater in Boerum Hill"
Latest Restaurant Additions
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Le Barricou
added November 20, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Der Schwarze Kölner
added November 19, 2009 12:00 PM in Fort Greene -
Oak Wine Bar & Café
added November 18, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Mr. Wonton
added November 17, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Casa Rosa
added November 16, 2009 12:00 PM in Carroll Gardens -
Cousin John's Café & Bakery
added November 13, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Elote
added November 12, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Miracle Grill
added November 11, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Phoebe's Cafe
added November 10, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Ruthie's
added November 9, 2009 12:00 PM in Clinton Hill, Downtown Brooklyn